Hanukkah is celebrated in Odesa

Chief Rabbi of Odesa and the South of Ukraine Abraham Wolf and the mayor of the city Gennadiy Trukhanov lit the first candle of khanukiyah on Primorsky Boulevard. Photos

On December 2, 2018, hundreds of Odesa citizens gathered on Primorsky Boulevard to celebrate the start of traditional Jewish Hanukkah. One of the main customs of the holiday is the lighting of Hanukkah lamps.

The chief Rabbi of Odesa and the South of Ukraine, Abraham Wolf, and the mayor of Odessa, Gennadiy Trukhanov congratulated all the people gathered at Primorsky Boulevard and have lit the first candle of Hanukkah. Over the eight days, one more candle is added to the lit one.

On these holidays, it is customary to eat dishes cooked in butter and give children “hanukkah gelt” - Hanukkah money, some of which they spend on charity.

Information

Hanukkah was established in memory of the miracle that happened 22 centuries ago in Jerusalem. Then the Jewish warriors, who cleared the Jerusalem temple of pagan idols, found that in Jerusalem remained a single cruse of olive oil made especially for the Temple lamp. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. Since then evening of the holiday candles or oil lamps are lit in Jewish homes. On the first evening - one candle, on the second - two, reaching eight on the last evening. This is established in order to note that every day the evidence of a miracle grew more and more.